


Feteful Flicker

by TacticalCupcakes



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 12:45:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19357294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TacticalCupcakes/pseuds/TacticalCupcakes
Summary: After hearing Yuri has never been to a funfair, Natsuki is adamant to change that.





	Feteful Flicker

“Wait… you’ve _never_ been to a funfair before?”

Natsuki raises an eyebrow at me incredulously and leans forward. “We’ve got to change that. In fact, the fair’s in town tonight; let’s get going!”

Nervously, I retreat into myself, fidgeting with my hair. “I-Is it really that big of a deal…?”

“Did you really just ask that? Of course it’s a big deal!” she tugs at my hand, unrelenting until I follow her. “You’ve got to get out there and have some thrills! Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Probably curled up with a blanket and a plate of macarons,” I sigh sardonically.

It’s not that I don’t believe going to a fairground would be fun; at least, I’m fairly certain (if you’ll excuse the pun) that Natsuki would enjoy it. However, an evening of adrenaline-flaring death machines that could fall apart at a moment’s notice doesn’t sound like the most pleasant experience. And that’s _without_ bringing up the safety concerns.

Nevertheless, although I would prefer to have a quiet night in, she’s right; it’s probably not healthy for me to stay inside all of the time. Perhaps if I go with her, she’ll be understanding and won’t force me to go on anything _too_ unnerving.

“Come on, you’ve got a _lot_ of catching up to do!”

_Hopefully this won’t be too much to handle…_

…

“O-Oh wow…”

I’m not sure what I was expecting to see, but I certainly hadn’t imagined there’d be so many colours. Glimmering sparks of azure and vermilion dance around haphazardly across the many attractions, in an attempt to entice an unwitting passerby. In the distance are crowds of people screaming in excitement, letting themselves get lost in the chaotic night.

_I’d actually be quite content staying here and watching things unfold from afar…_

Before I can entertain that line of thought any longer, Natsuki snaps her fingers in front of me.

“Hey! We’ve got stuff to do, remember?”

Steeling myself, I nod, and follow her into the maws of mayhem. _Natsuki knows this is my first time at a place like this; hopefully she’ll go easy on me and we can just have a bit of a meander around until-_

“Here!”

Beaming, she extends her hand out towards a colossal metal catastrophe; twisted metal snakes around itself, looping and twisting without pattern, whilst a brave train of carts rocket across.

‘A…A r-rollercoaster?” I stammer, my eyes widening at the mere sight of it. “N-Natsuki, I’m not sure-“

“Nope!” she interrupts me, “everyone has to go on a rollercoaster at least _once_. Otherwise you won’t know if you like it!”

_I’m pretty sure I can answer that question already._

“B-But… i-i-it’s so…”

“Relax! Would I ever tell you to do anything stupid?”

_Yes._

“I-I…”

“It’s a new experience! It’ll give you something new to draw upon when you write!”

‘W-Well… I suppose…”

“That’s the spirit!” Natsuki pumps her fist triumphantly, and turns towards the rollercoaster. “I think it’s gonna stop soon, and then we can get on.”

The ground shakes as the carts pass by, mercifully allowing their prisoners to escape.

 _Maybe it won’t be so bad… perhaps it only_ looks _like it’s going really fast because I’m looking up at it; maybe it’s actually slower when you’re on it…_

…

After a short wait, the two of us make our way towards a cart. Natsuki pulls me towards the front, insisting that ‘it’s much better up here’. She nimbly hops in, patting the open seat next to her. I cautiously follow her inside, trying my best to not focus on the slightly visible rusting of the tracks.

“Now remember, when we go down, you have to lift your arms up!”

“E-Eh?!”

Suddenly, a large metal bar descends over the two of us with a loud **_KERCHUNK!_**

An intense feeling of dread starts to manifest within me, flooding my thoughts with every possible way things could go wrong.

“W-Wait… I-I’ve changed my mind! I want to get off!”

I try to stand up, but the metal bar is locked firmly in place. Panicking, I look over to the person running the attraction, standing behind a plain set of controls. Desperately trying to appeal to their sense of compassion, I try to communicate my fears through my eyes, praying they’d take pity on me.

They don’t.

With a quick pull of a lever, the cart jerks forward and moves with an unexpectedly slow crawl. The wheels beneath us grind against the tracks, although the noise is mostly drowned out by my frantically beating heart.

_It’s going slowly… perhaps they were taking it easy for me after all…_

“Yeah, this is going to be awesome!” Natsuki bounces in her seat slightly with excitement.

“I-Is it? It’s not going very fast…”

She gives me a quick look. “They’re building up to it; you need to have the quiet before the storm to make the speedy parts more of a rush!”

My grip tightens on the bar subconsciously. Without warning, the cart starts climbing a steep incline.

_Well, this is it; this is how I’m going to die. Whatever you do, don’t look anywhere except right in front of you._

“I… they need to stop and let me get off… I don’t-“

Suddenly, the cart jerks forward and plummets towards the ground. All around me I hear excited screams, but my own are born from pure fear.

I feel detached from reality as the cart rockets across the track, showing no sign of slowing down. My head starts to swim, but I _can’t_ let myself faint. _If I were to let go…_

Without thinking, I grab Natsuki’s hand, my hold far stronger than normal. If this is going to be our last moment, I at least want to go out with that small comfort.

As if noticing my terror, the coaster becomes more erratic, doing full loops and defying gravity. The only thing keeping me in place is the sheer inertia of the coaster.

_I want to go home I want to go home I want to go home I want to go home._

…

 

After an agonizing eternity, the coaster _finally_ decides that it’s had enough of toying with me, and crawls to a smooth stop. The metal safety bar in front of me lifts up, and I waste no time in hopping out of the cart. Well, I _wish_ I could be that agile right now; all I can muster is a pitiful stagger, leaning onto the guard railings outside of the attraction.

“Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?” Natsuki grins slyly, placing a hand on her hip.

“…y-y-you have a s-s-strange d-definition of f-fun…” I pant out, still struggling to keep my balance.

“What’s the matter? I thought you _liked_ scary stuff!” she says teasingly.

“…T-That’s different… I l-like stories t-that challenge your way o-of thinking… I do _not_ enjoy strapping myself into a near-death experience…”

“Oh come on, I think you’re being a little bit overdramatic. You did it! You gave something new a go!”

Unable to give her a response, I settle for trying to tame my shaky breaths.

“…listen, I think I know something you’ll enjoy a bit more.”

She slips her hand into mine, and pulls me away from the safety of the guard rail.

_This had better not be a cruel joke…_

…

_Well, this is actually… a nice surprise…_

Natsuki had led me towards a large, brightly lit Ferris wheel on the other side of the fairground. It was comparatively quieter, and _far_ more peaceful. Something like this was definitely more my speed; safely encased in a sturdy capsule with the cool evening wind tousling my hair, I’m free to gaze upon the view beneath me.

‘Wow…”

It’s really quite humbling to see so much in such a relatively small space. There must be hundreds of people here, each of them with their own story, their own reason to come. Were they trying to have some fun by themselves? Did they get roped into it by their friends? Or were they hoping to impress someone by doing something they’d otherwise never do.

“Hey…” Natsuki looks over at me, fidgeting bashfully with her hands. “Thanks for coming out with me today. I know it must’ve taken a lot out of you, but… I’m proud of you.”

Any feelings of leftover angst immediately melt away. It’s been so long since I’ve heard those words from someone.

Without a word, I lean in and gently kiss her.

“Thank you for being so patient with me…”

“Heh… I know this whole thing’s kind of cliché, but…” she pauses, before looking back at me, “I’ve always wanted to share a moment like this.”

“Is that because you saw it in one of your manga volumes?”

She looks up at me defensively. “N-No! Well… maybe, but still! My life’s been kind of all over the place, y’know? It feels nice to have a bit of… normalness, I guess?”

I instinctively feel myself about to correct her and say ‘the word you’re looking for is normalcy’, but I fight it.

“Sort of like how tonight went? Going from that roller coaster to a Ferris wheel… were you trying to set up an elaborate metaphor?”

“…did it work?”

I beam, giving her another kiss.

“I’m proud of you too.”

She doesn’t say anything to this; she simply smiles, and looks up at the starry sky.

Although today has both literally and figuratively been a roller coaster, I’m glad this is how things turned out. I’m confident that I’ll remember this night for several years to come.

_But for now, let’s just enjoy the moment together…_


End file.
